Brooklyn Beckham exposed the narrative

All families have an inner narrative and an outer narrative. By this I mean, from deep inside the bosom of your family you know the fissures, the tender spots, the unsaid things which cannot be spoken into existence because to do so would be to shake the very foundations of your life. But when you step outside of the familial unit, you have a different version. You’re a team, a team which has the usual issues sure, but a loving and strong one. You might even present as more than you are - sending the dreaded Christmas round robin which boasts of little Charlie’s rugby prowess or Julie’s exceptional recorder solo which brought the whole school to tears. The outer narrative tells the world that you are a family to be envied. For your closeness, the fact that you actually like each other, because you can all succeed as individuals within a group. You need that group don’t you? It’s a protective shield, even when it’s worn down and uneven in places. 

When one person stops putting on this united front, the whole thing falls down. If you’re famous (and often if you’re not, nowhere is more nosy than a small community), lot of people will react with barely concealed glee. The perfect family that wasn’t! See, you’re no better than the rest of us, your inner narrative is exposed and your whole family is naked. Doing possibly the most interesting thing he’s ever done (apart from the elephant photo obvi), Brooklyn Beckham told on his family yesterday. Writing a series of Instagram slides, the eldest boy leveled a series of accusations at his parents (though mainly at his mother) and, as if this litany of grievances wasn’t sign enough,  announced that he had no intention of reconciling with them. There were memes within minutes. People flooded the Beckham’s social media accounts with their opinions on this family fracture, lofty comments about Victoria’s failures as a mother and flippant comments about Brooklyn’s failures as an adult. It was faintly gross to see, but I couldn’t look away.